A study of critical thinking and adaptation to technology.
Item
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Title
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A study of critical thinking and adaptation to technology.
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Identifier
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AAI9986365
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identifier
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9986365
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Creator
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Palokangas-Millery, Mari Helena.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Herbert Saltzstein
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Date
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2000
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Developmental
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Abstract
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Adaptation to a new technology is described among workers in two public transportation facilities in a working-class suburban borough of a metropolitan city in the U.S. The process is conceptualized as critical thinking (CT) within activity systems, as the workers dialectically engage with the socio-cultural and technological context. An association is found between CT and adaptive computer use.;Data on workers' (n = 125) use of a database of bus maintenance activities were obtained from the computer system. Adaptive use was operationalized as broad use of affordances within the system. The workers widely utilized the options within the system, but the range of usage declined over five months, indicating that the range of affordances used by the group narrowed over time. Great variability across individuals was observed in use of the system with many workers showing patterns opposite to the declining trend.;Questionnaires (n = 40) assessing attitudes towards the computer system and the workplace indicated cautiousness and skepticism, as well as optimism toward the new system. Factor analysis yielded four attitude factors, three of which were associated with adaptive computer use outcomes.;Indicators of CT were examined in interviews (n = 18) during early implementation of the system. The coded segment consisted of dialogue about four dilemmas: two about the new system, one about bus maintenance, and one hypothetical moral dilemma. The workers' responses were counterprobed following a modified Piagetian clinical interview method. A coding was developed for seven elements of CT: Identification of assumption, Negation, Contradiction, Reinterpretation, New Solution, Evaluation, and Metacognition. An average of 1.75 elements per utterance were found in the 1,249 coded utterances. Factor analysis revealed a highly intercorrelated cluster of the first five elements. The hypothetical dilemma elicited higher rates of selected CT elements than the other dilemmas.;The hypothesized relationship between CT and adaptive computer use was supported by the results showing that high levels of four of the seven elements, as well as scores based on combinations of elements, are associated with sustained adaptive computer use. This finding is interpreted as evidence of a dialectic process of adaptation where an initial critical engagement leads to an adaptive outcome.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
